Starlight | Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ¹

Chapter 1: Starstruck

"And so, after three more months in the hospital, he died," Alina says, making sure she's making eye contact with her classmates and teacher. Teachers always hand out better grades for those who don't read off their slides directly, and she isn't taking any chances now. Currently, Alina only has an average of 90 in her English II class, but she isn't going to allow a simple oral project to ruin her perfect straight A's.

"My grandpa may have died of a heart attack," Alina continues, "but he was a great man. He may not have died saving the world, and he may not have had powers, but he accomplished what many people never have. He tried to be a hero by serving his country, and that's why he is, in my eyes, a hero and the person that I look up to the most."

Alina ends her presentation with a nod and a smile. The class erupts in applause like they have after every presentation thus far. At this point, for many of the students, clapping after someone finishes a presentation is simply just an impulse, whether they payed attention to the presentation or not.

"My, that was wonderful," Mrs. Gilbert praises, and a second later the bell rings. All the students, including Alina, scramble to get their things together before bursting out of the classroom, excitement for the weekend spinning around in their minds.

"Enjoy your weekend!" Mrs. Gilbert calls after them.

After two more classes, the school day finally ends for Alina. She walks home like she does every day, with her earbuds in her ears and her hands tucked into her hoodie pockets. As Believer by Imagine Dragons turns on, she can't help but bop her head to the music.

A sudden ringing from her phone blocks out the music. Annoyed, she digs her phone out of her hoodie pocket and reads the caller ID.

Sam Wilson.

Alina's heart jumps into a frenzy. It had been two years, two whole years  since she last spoke to Sam. The last time she saw him was at her grandpa's funeral and that was it. No visits, no texts, nothing, nadda, and here he is now contacting her. She knows he's an Avenger now, which likely explains why he never checked in on her, but this is definitely unexpected.

Not knowing what else to do, Alina presses the green accept button.

"Alina, are you there?!" Sam's voice comes through immediately.

"Um, yeah?" she says, almost in a question. "Long time no see, Sam," she adds.

"Alina, listen. I need your help."

"Wait-Wait, what? You need my what ?" Alina stops walking and settles herself on a bus stop bench. This phone call is definitely not just a friendly check in. "I"m sorry, but I'm so confused right now. Not to be rude, but aren't you like an Avenger now? Why would you need my help?"

Sam's heavy release of air can be heard through the phone. "Look, some serious stuff is going down, and we're low on numbers. I'm sure you've heard about the Accords, right?"

"Well, yeah," Alina answers with a shrug.

"Well, because of those stupid Accords, we have a major threat coming our way. I wanna tell you more but I'm kinda on the run right now, and I'm not sure how safe this line is."

Alina's raises her eyebrows. "What the hell? You're on the run?! And you're calling me ?!"

"Look," Sam says, "I'm gonna hang up now, but before I do, I need an answer. If you say yes, I'll have some friends of mine come and get you. If you say no, then you and I will pretend this conversation never happened, okay?"